For such a large copper heatsink the fan used on the NW6700 some how looks underpowered - in actuality it is one of the noiser Pentium 4 heatsinks we have measured thus far. Keep in mind the list is still growing, but 58 dB is not exactly quiet either. To listen to the NW6700, click on the headphones next to the sound level image and play the MP3 recording.

FrostyTech Acoustic Sampling Chamber

Standard Waveform view of a 10 second recording. Click on the headphones to listen to an MP3 recording of this heatsink in operation.

Sound Level Measurements:

Listening to the actual noise a heatsink makes
allows you to hear what pure numbers alone cannot get across. To further
emphasize FrostyTech's reliance on cold hard facts when evaluating a heatsink, we also take Decibel readings with a sound level meter. These results may be higher than the manufacturer's listed specs, but then again these are real world measurements.

FrostyTech
Sound Level Results

-

Manufacturer

Model

Noise Level

Scale

Zalman

CNPS6500-AlCu

47.4/28.9 dB

quiet

Intel

Socket 478

42.5 dB

Cho-Liang

CL-CB00881

50.2 dB

AVC

117140

56.1 dB

NengTyi

NW6700

58.0 dB

louder

Loudness often translates into a higher power fan, and that usually means better performance. We will have to wait a few moments to find out that one. Compared to the stock Intel heatsink, the NW6700 is significantly louder, so be warned if you are looking for a heatsink with a low noise signature.

NengTyi's first attempt at the socket 478 Pentium 4 processor does very well in the initial attempts, even with a slightly elevated ambient temperature. The fan is moderately more noisy but about the same size at the one on the stock Intel cooler.

Unlike socket A/370 processors it is rare to see really good performance heatsinks for the Pentium 4 processor. We will have to look at the rise above ambient temperatures to see if the NW6700 can hold its third position in this set of reference heatsinks or make a gain.

Rise Above Ambient
Temp. (c)

Mfg.

Model

27mm large copper block

27mm large copper block

50W

100W

1

AVC

117140

15.2

27.8

2

Arkua

8568

15.4

29.3

3

NengTyi

XPC5000

14.6

30.1

4

Zalman

CNPS6500-AlCu

17.2

34.3

5

Vantec

GSN-7025

19.2

36.0

6

chauh Choung

DTA-478

19.7

36.6

7

Intel

Socket 478

19.4

37.4

8

Titan

TTC-MT3AB

18.7

38.4

9

Dynatron

DC1206BM-S

20.8

39.6

10

AVC

117160

20.3

39.8

11

Cho-Liang

CL-CB00881

18.2

41.4

12

Vantec

GSN-7105

25.1

46.6

50W

100W

True to full-copper form the NW6700 maintains a heathy increase in cooling performance over the stock Intel socket 478 aluminum heatsink. We kind of expected as much, and with a larger fan the lead could potentially be improved even further.

The clipping mechanism makes good use of the socket retention mechanism and holds the NW6700 with a good amount of force. While I haven't heard any stories yet of the HSRM breaking under the load of heavy heatsinks, it may be a wise idea to remove a solid copper heatsink such as this if the computer is being shipped any large distances. After all, we have all seen what FEDEX can do to a package. :)

Bottom line, if you can get your hands on the all
copper NW6700 you won't be disappointed by its performance, even with such a
horribly scratched and marked base as the one we tested had.